About me

This blogname was derived from the novel The Secret Life Of Saeed The Pessoptimist by the Palestinian Israeli Emile Habiby: absurdism as weapon against the (ir)realities of daily life in Palestine/Israel. (The subtitle is from a book by Dutch author Renate Rubinstein. It could as well be my motto).
My real name is Martin (Maarten Jan) Hijmans. I've been covering the ME since 1977 and have been a correspondent in Cairo. I started my 'Abu Pessoptimist' blog in January 2009 out of anger during the onslaught in Gaza. The other one, The Pessoptmist, is meant to be a sister version in English. (En voor de Nederlandstaligen: ik wilde in november 2009 een tweede blog in het Engels beginnen en ontdekte te laat dat als je één account hebt, een profiel dan meteen ook voor allebei de blogs geldt. Vandaar dat het nu ineens in het Engels is... So sorry.)

Monday, December 31, 2018

Ten years for activist in UAE

An United Arab Emirates (UAE) appeals court has upheld a 10-year prison sentence against prominent pro-democracy activist Ahmed Mansoor for criticising the government on social media, Amnesty International reported. The father of four was also handed a fine of one million dirham (270.000 dollar).

Mansoor, an electrical engineer and poet, was
arrested in March 2017 and sentenced in May by Abu Dhabi's Federal
Appeals Court for "defaming the UAE through social media channels".

Mansoor was among five activists convicted and later pardoned for insulting the UAE's rulers in 2011.He was arrested again in March 2017 at his home in Ajman. The charges
were publishing false information and rumours, and promoting a
sectarian and hate-incited agenda.

Several international rights groups, including the United Nations human rights bodies, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the European Union Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights have condemned the sentencing of Mansoor earlier this year.
Responding to Monday's decision by the court to uphold Mansoor's
sentence, Amnesty's Middle East Research director, Lynn Maalouf said
that the decision proves "there is no space for freedom [of] expression
in the United Arab Emirates".